All aboard! Cannonball express is ready to roll this weekend

If you hear a train a-comin' this weekend, you'll probably be in Ocoee or Winter Garden.

A 1907 steam-powered locomotive, which has been featured in the 2010 remake of "True Grit," "O Brother, Where Art Thou," and 30 other motion pictures, will haul passengers between the two west Orange cities for the first time in more than half a century.

"It's a big deal from a historical standpoint," said Neil Bagaus, operations manager for the Tavares, Eustis & Gulf Railroad and the rail expert responsible for making sure that the Orange Blossom Cannonball runs on time Saturday and Sunday.

About four years ago — the last time a train tried to roll into downtown Winter Garden — it derailed at Dillard Street.

"The tracks were not up to what they should have been then and not what they are now," said Phil Cross, historian and past president for the Central Florida Railroad Historical Society. "We hope this is the first of many [train] events to come."

Judging by advance ticket sales, interest is high for the eight-mile, 75-minute, round-trip rides between the two cities, the first of which is scheduled to depart Saturday at 10 a.m. from the Winter Garden depot, 101 S. Boyd St., for Ocoee.

About 300 tickets — $20 for adults, $15 for kids ages 4 to 12 — have been sold already.

The Tavares-based train can accommodate 1,600 riders through the weekend schedule.

"A lot of the folks who will be in downtown Winter Garden [and Ocoee] this weekend probably have never seen an operating steam locomotive," Cross said. "This will be a chance not only to see one, but also a chance to ride behind one."

For those who don't see the Cannonball, they may hear it, and possibly smell it.

The train whistle, which will be blasted as the locomotive approaches depots in both cities, can be heard three miles away, and the wood-burning firebox emits an aroma of a hickory barbecue. The vintage cars pulled by the locomotive also have a Hollywood pedigree, appearing mostly in westerns. They evoke trains of "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke," not Amtrak.

But riders won't experience one feature of train service that turn-of-the-century passengers enjoyed: the clickety-clack of coaches passing over bolted rails. The modern tracks, known as "continuous welds," allow for smoother and, sadly, quieter rides.

Riders can catch the train in Winter Garden, where the city is hosting its annual "Spring Fever in the Garden" landscaping festival, or at the Ocoee Lions Club, 108 Taylor St., where a bluegrass band is lined up to play for three hours each day. Tickets are available online at orangeblossomcannonball.com, by phone 352-742-7200 or at either depot, both of which are former Tavares & Gulf Railroad stations.

The trains will chug along at 10 mph, crossing over eight roads where motorists may expect waits of up to a minute. Dillard Street in Winter Garden, which has neither flashing lights nor safety gates, will be staffed by off-duty police officers to stop traffic.

Nicknamed the "movie train" for its use by Hollywood, the Cannonball will ride rails improved as part of an $18.4-million, publicly funded project designed to move freight trains faster between Orange and Lake counties on Florida Central Railroad tracks.

The Cannonball is the only steam engine operating in Florida outside of an amusement park.